The U.K.’s latest buzz band makes a noisy racket on its debut CD. But don’t believe the hype: Enter Shikari isn’t breaking any new ground. Stateside listeners will recognize Take to the Skies‘ tuneful verses and larynx-shredding choruses as no more than a continental version of screamo. One difference: The English quartet punctuates nearly every song with screaming synths that sound like they time-warped from 1987. Still, there’s plenty of sweaty riffs and pub-ready sing-alongs on songs like “Enter Shikari” and “Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour . . . ” to carry us till the next hyperbole-inducing musical import surfaces.
This article appears in Dec 12-18, 2007.